


Dragon Hall

by Shadowfire23



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: AU, Dragons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:07:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowfire23/pseuds/Shadowfire23
Summary: A young man overcomes adversity and bonds with a dragon. Are the tides changing?
Relationships: None





	1. Chapter 1

Tukul was gathering ragweed for the dragons of the hall when he heard a loud humming, actually he felt it. “This must be my chance to prove to everyone that I am not a stubborn loser, and that I can become a dragonrider to fight the renegade turners !!!” He thought joyously to himself. Seeing as everyone thought he was a loser midget, it was undeniable that he had a certain ambition to fight turners and to save humanity from the extinction of Pern, the planet that the original 36 colonists had chosen to colonize. At the time the colonists didn't realizing that a vicious parasite was waiting to devour the when they reached the ground. At first slowly, then hurriedly, Tukul rushed to put on the white hatchery robe that indicated he was a candidate to the glowing eggs sitting in the warm sands of the hatchery.  
He was so excited that he didn’t realize that the humming had stopped when he entered the grounds. When he finally noticed, he looked around and saw that all of the once smooth, glowing eggs had lost their shine and were sitting empty and abandoned, sharp points dragging forlorn at the sky. He felt an anguish so deep that it threatened to sweep him up and swallow him, never to be seen again. It was as such immersed in his grief of lost possibilities that he didn’t notice the small bundle of hopeful candidates slowly moving towards him, standing at the edge of the sand pit that was the hatching grounds, inside the massive hatchery.  
“Never seen anything like it a baby dragonet trying to leave the hatchery!”, the woman of the grounds said, “The little bronze must not have found the right person inside, or maybe he wants someone in the stands?”   
“No because he is heading towards the left entrance and you can only access the stands from the north entrance,” criticized the queen’s (Ramnath's) rider Reyna, “It’s more likely that there is someone in the shadows that isn’t supposed to be there, or a candidate that didn’t make it into the grounds in time for the hatching.”  
“It’s more than likely that some lollygagger has decided to get a closer look at the dragons as they hatched.”   
“But then why has a dragon not impressed a boy? There’s plenty to choose from!”  
Down in the grounds a private miracle was working towards the grieving teen standing in the shadows. While Tukul was unaware of the dragonet making his stumbling way towards him, Tukul slowly became aware of babble concerning the ‘man’ in the shadows and he knew that he had been spotted. Instead of being caught teary eyed and with a tear streaked face kneeling in the sands, he rose to his feet, brushed off the sand, and dried his eyes and face. He turned around expecting to hear criticism but instead he was met with a baby bronze dragonet that stood with a sagging middle, and was nearly four feet tall.   
As Tukul stood there staring at the bronze, he felt a much greater mind than his own brush against him. Caught off guard by the familiarity of the mind, he was completely unprepared for the thought “I’m hungry!” to pop into his mind. He looked around bewildered trying to see who had spoken, but the only things there were sand and a dragonet. Then it dawned on him, the baby dragonet had spoken to him. Wait! Dragons didn’t talk. To his amazement the dragon responded by saying “I am what would be considered a mutation from the typical dragon, in fact this whole nest and the ones to come in the future will be able to speak with their riders. As I am doing with you.”  
Tukul was brave enough to ask, “Does this mean I am your rider?”   
“Yes, you are the one I have been after since I have hatched. My name is Salenth. I hope you get some food for me soon, I really am hungry.”  
Tukul laughed “Of course I will get some food for you, after that walk you must be hungry.”  
It was then that the people of the stands came rushing up to see who was in the shadows. A collective gasp went through the crowd as they realized that the loser midget that they had always taunted and teased must now be respected with an awed reverence.   
Reyna came forward and said “Welcome to the hall of dragons. I see that you have impressed a bronze and are in need of sustenance for him. We will provide all the food you require and you will have a cot and stone bed waiting for you in the dragonet barracks. I hope you have a wonderful time here and will stay with us to learn how to clean your dragon and in general how to care for your dragon.If you decide to stay you will also be trained to fight turners, seeing as it requires several hundred dragons to clear an area of the parasitic animals, and we only have around one hundred and fifty dragons in this hall, we must work twice as hard as any other to clear the lands of those looking to us of turners.”  
Tukul was astonished, “Of course I will join your hall, In fact I already work here. My name is Tukul, and you must be Reyna.”  
“Yes I am Reyna, and I am glad that you have decided to join our hall.”, She replied , “But I recall no one by the name Tukul working or living here before now. Where have you been and how long have you been working here?”  
“I have been here for several turns, since I was ten and the grasses were budding purple and blue flowers, the ones that bloom every ten years or so.”, Tukul responded rather quickly, “I have been working wherever the station manager needed an extra hand. I have been around for quite some time, although I don’t think Archivist Murray accounted for my presence when he did the last population count of Dragon Hold.  
“I don’t think you’re a part of the poor population” Tukul heard “But then you are my rider, and I now have a special bond with you. That being true I feel that you should probably ask this Reyna for some food. I’m hungry!”  
“ Well I think you should take me to where the food is, Salenth is getting hungry.” Tukul asked Reyna, “ Or have someone show me where it is so I can get it myself.”   
“It’s not a problem that I can take you, but when Salenth is full, go to the Dragon Master for guidance to the barracks.” She replied.  
As Reyna led the way out of the grounds Tukul took one last look at the empty shells, thanking fate for allowing him this honor. Once out of the grounds Reyna led him into a chamber that was full of raw chunks of meat, with other new dragonriders feeding their new companions outside the room. Tukul took one look around and whistled “ That's a lot of dragon chow, how do you keep it from spoiling?”  
“We cut fresh meat every two weeks, because by then every dragon has eaten it’s weekly fill twice and won’t come back until the fresh meat has been cut and placed. Now get a bowl and feed your bronze, he looks faded.” Reyna replied in a caustic tone. So Tukul got a large blue bowl out of one of the cupboards and filled it with meat, then he took it outside and started to feed his dragon. “Reyna was right you do look faded,” Tukul was surprised to get the response ,  
“That’s because I haven't eaten for nearly three hours!”  
Tukul was astonished, “But you only hatched about an hour ago!”  
Salenth looked at him like he was stupid, “Before we hatch we eat everything inside our egg aside from the shell, then we use that food to make energy, which is the used in an hour long process to break our shells to find our riders.”The bronze seemed to deflate, “But we don’t always get to our riders in time and die from starvation, and when we die we go between. And dripping wet with an empty belly the cold of between is enough to wash our minds clean of life. Luckily that doesn't happen every hatching. I was close to that point when I found you, and that gave me enough strength to get here so you can feed me.” At that point Tukul had stopped feeding Salenth, “Don’t stop, I’m still starving!!”   
Tukul was abashed, “How much food do you need to eat? This is the third time I’ve refilled the bowl, and this is a large bowl.”   
“Dragons have large stomachs, and when we hatch are completely empty and are starting to get smaller. Most of my abdominal area is my stomach.” Tukul chuckled “Right now it looks like your stomach is bulging, I can even see the outline of a couple chunks of meat that you neglected to chew.” Tukul fed his new friend the last of the bowl of meat, took it over to the sink and rinsed the sticky red blood out of it. Once rinsed the bowl was placed on a trolley full of similar bowels, waiting for the rest of its load to take back to the kitchen for washing and sanitizing. Tukul looked around and saw that he was the last one to get finished. He stood from his seat and started towards the dining hall, where he might find the Dragon Master. As he ascended the stone ramp, with Salenth by his side, he heard laughter among the chatter that was common after a hatching.What he didn’t expect was everyone to stop talking when he entered the room.   
“Where is the Dragon Master?” He asked, “Reyna told me to find him when Salenth was fed.” Someone pointed to a man collapsed in a chair, obviously drunk and completely oblivious to the world. So he tried again, “Does anyone know where the dragonet barracks are?” From the mumbling crowd he got the response “It’s near the west entrance to the hatching grounds.”  
Gesturing his thanks, Tukul led Salenth to the west entrance to the hatching grounds. There he found several stone beds and cots full of sleeping dragons and riders, exhausted from the excitement of the day. Wearily Tukul sat down on the last empty cot, and barely managed to tell his lifelong friend to get on the stone bed before he fell asleep in the thick warm furs on the bed..


	2. Chapter 2

When he woke Tukul felt a light breeze on his face and hard, wet sand under his back. He opened his eyes and found himself on an island on sand in the middle of a large lake, probably Lake Leona. Lake Leona was named after the scientist who cured yellow fever, after she found the cure, Leona ran to the lake and drowned herself because she was unable to save her only child from the horrific disease. Now sitting half submerged in the cold water, Tukul wondered how he got there, as he distinctly remembered falling asleep in a rough cut cot with a soft comforter pulled up over him. Then he remembered Salenth, and barely being able to believe it was real Tukul began to call Salenth to tell him where he was. “Salenth! Where are you?” After a few minutes without a reply Tukul began to think he had dreamed the entire day, when quite suddenly he heard a giant mental shout: “Where are you?! When I woke you were gone, and I was cold and hungry.”  
Joy and relief washed over Tukul, he hadn’t dreamed it after all. “I’m on an island in the middle of a lake, I think it’s Lake Leona.”  
Muttering to himself, he looked around to see if the people who had moved him had left any boats with which he could get to the distant shore. He felt a chilly breeze and with a gasp of surprise he started frantically waving down the dragonrider. With an amused snort that sent a wave of smoke over Tukul, the ever vain and graceful brown dragon set down on a clear patch of sand. Walking quickly Tukul rushed over and climbed the riding straps to sit in the saddle, as he did he said, “Thank you I thought I would have to walk back to the hold.”  
The Dragonrider smiled “I don’t typically do taxi service, but when a new dragonet’s rider disappears and the rest look guilty I’m inclined to take a look. It’s a good thing you sent an image of where you were to your dragon, otherwise I might not have been able to find you here. Just as an impersonal question, how did you get here? I thought all the new riders were in the barracks.”   
Tukul responded, “I was the last to get finished feeding my dragon, and by then the Dragon Master was passed out. I asked the people in the dining hall where the barracks were and went to that place, when I got there everyone was asleep. Only one set of beds were open so I got my bronze settled on his bed then collapsed onto the cot provided for me. After that I don’t remember anything except waking up here with the feeling the past day had not happened and that I had dreamed it all. Then I thought why not try? As It turned out I was right and Salenth was worried.”  
The rider laughed “You were right I was passed out, The same snobs who moved you probably slipped some fellweed onto my drink.”  
Tukul was confused “So you're saying that you're the Dragon Master? Do you know where we are? Can we go back soon?”  
The Dragon Master laugher again, for it was indeed he, “Yes, I believe we are at Lake Leona, and we’re going to head back right now. Reyna was frantic when I left, and is probably still frantic. By the way, meet Kenneth.”  
With a whoosh of his wings the brown launched himself and his riders into the air. Then with a flick of his tail, he took them between. Between is a place that in itself is not a place. Imagine a place of eternal blackness, no air, and extreme cold. Between is similar to space, but in space one has the sense of touch which is not the case of between.  
After a frightening minute in the freezing cold of between, Tukul began to count off the seconds until he would reappear above the old volcanic bowl of the hall. With a blast of cold air the brown reappeared, rising on a warm thermal. As they rose Tukul was brave enough to look over Kenneth's side, and what he saw was a beautiful array of buildings clustered in similar pattern as the stars in the night sky. As he gazed on the clusters, Kenneth began to dive. In a tight spiral, the clouds seemed to rotate in clockwise manner. Tukul shut his eyes and started to scream, in a panicking second he felt his butt lifting out of the saddle. Afraid of flying off Kenneth, Tukul rapidly grabbed at the Dragon Master’s tunic.  
Turning his head, The Dragon Master yelled, “How’s it going back there? You seem to be pulling my tunic awful tight!”  
Too scared to answer, Tukul just pulled the tunic tighter.When Kenneth descended to the ground, the crowd gathered around the brown dragon. Everyone was babbling and yelling so it was impossible to hear anything. At that moment Tukul spotted Salenth, and with a gracefully sweeping jump, Tukul descended and fought his way to his dragon. The whole time he was relishing in the relief of being with Salenth again.   
Tukul was brought to reality by a loud clanging bang, repeated over and over to claim everyone's attention. As the crowd settled down the Lord and Lady of the hall began their announcements by saying,   
“If we could have your attention, please. My Lady Rayna and I have some announcements regarding the disappearance of a bronze rider who impressed yesterday. If any of you have any idea as to where he is, or who removed him from the hall speak up now!”  
Wary of trouble a youth that was at the hatching raised a trembling hand, “I think Kinan and his group were responsible for this, They were talking about what they were going to do. He said ‘We have to get rid of Tukul, he doesn’t deserve the dragon he got. You should have impressed the bronze, Brolly.’ Those were his exact words. Please don’t let them hurt me for telling this, they told me to keep it a secret when they found me spying. I just wanted to talk to them, they never notice me.”  
“Who is Brolly? Was he one of the candidates? What does Kinan have against Tukul, besides obviously the bronze? If you know, speak up NOW!” The angry lord was quite clearly upset about this, “Do they know that once impression has occurred nothing short of death can reverse it? Well? Any answers?”   
“Brolly is a bully that was a candidate at the hatching because Lord Kit donated a large tithe to the hall, and I believe that Kinan had a past grudge with Tukul involving a blackrock barrow and a shovel. I don’t know if they knew that the only separation was death, but they were willing to try.” This time a different youth in the back spoke up, “By the way I’m friends with Kinan and wanted nothing to do with his plan. My name is Meteht.” This was the last straw for Tukul.  
“Do you mean to say that I was abducted in the middle of the night because some bully wanted my dragon?” Tukul was in outrage, “I have never harmed someone on purpose, and I don’t know anyone by the name of Kinan, or the name of Brolly!” But he wasn't finished yet, “If he has a problem with me he should say it to my face, not plot sligh attacks to take me out! He should man up and challenge me to my face, I've had enough of bullies in my life!”   
Suddenly a long eerie shriek pierced the air. The loudspeaker, mounted high on a pole, kept repeating “Turners in proximity, Turners in proximity.” The Lord and Wing leaders lept into action, covering the roof and getting people into the shelter. Before hopping astride their great mounts, loading flame stone and ragweed, the riders looked to their lord and followed orders on patterns and formations. Then they leapt into the air in amazing show of agility and grace.   
To fearful of the shrill alarm, Tukul barely realized what had happened when the dragons simultaneously began flaming the golden glistening threads writhing across the ground. Seeming harmless, they could turn a full grown man to ash in less than five minutes. That is, if they came into contact with the threads. The virus it produced was much more deadly. turners came in two forms, the virus and the threads. The virus harbored in someone until it was passed on, then it devoured its intended host. The threads, however, were much more deadly. They eat any animal or bug it came in contact with, leaving plants untouched. Of the things they ate, only ash and dust is left behind.  
Among the gathered people, Tukul and Brolly were having a quiet tussle. As the dragons finished flaming on a wave of turners, Tukul pushed Brolly out of the shelter, right into the path of a writhing, tangled mass of turners. Rigid with shock, he starred as Brolly started to scream in agony. Turning with a heavy heart, Tukul sighed and plugged his ears. The dragons passed again and all was echoing silent.


End file.
